Lucas and Garrison 1875

Typical Givens Row Residences

Joseph W. Givens
2909 Morgan Street

Givens & Adams, Builders
903 St. Charles Street

Joseph B. Givens
Architect

2909 Morgan Street
Builders, Architects, and a Legacy in Stone

In 1875, Joseph W. Givens resided at 2909 Morgan Street, listed in Gould’s Directory as a partner in Givens & Adams, Builders, with offices at 903 St. Charles Street. At first glance, his entry appears modest—one among many tradesmen contributing to the physical growth of a rapidly expanding St. Louis. Yet the Givens household would prove to be far more than a simple residence of a working builder. It was the foundation of a multi-generational architectural legacy tied directly to one of the city’s most important institutions.

Census records from 1870 and 1880 confirm that the Morgan Street address was a family household, occupied by Joseph W. Givens, his wife Kate Abbey Givens, and their children, including Joseph B. Givens. Within this environment, the processes of building were not distant abstractions but part of daily life. Materials, design decisions, labor, and construction realities formed the backdrop of a household in which the next generation was raised.

Contemporary accounts confirm that Joseph W. Givens served for many years as architect and contractor for Washington University, placing him in direct connection with one of St. Louis’s most significant emerging institutions during its formative period on its downtown campus. Operating in an era when the distinction between builder and architect was still evolving, Givens functioned in both capacities, helping translate institutional ambition into physical form. His work positioned him within a network of civic development that extended beyond individual structures to the shaping of the city’s educational and cultural landscape.

Within this Morgan Street household, Joseph B. Givens came of age in that environment of design and construction. By the early 1880s, as the city’s residential center of gravity shifted westward, a “Joseph Givens” was associated with the design of Givens Row (1884) along Delmar Boulevard, an elegant series of Italianate row houses constructed in what was then one of the most desirable residential corridors in St. Louis. While attribution between father and son reflects the transitional nature of the profession at the time, the timing strongly suggests that this work represents a generational progression, with the son extending and refining the architectural foundations established by the father.

Givens Hall at Washington University

The later life of Joseph B. Givens confirms the trajectory that began in the Morgan Street household. Described at the time of his death as a “retired architect” and a man who was “quiet and reserved and never made a show of his wealth,” he carried forward the family’s architectural legacy in both practice and principle. In 1930, he made a transformative $850,000 gift to Washington University in memory of his parents, Joseph W. and Kate Abbey Givens. This endowment significantly advanced the university’s architectural program, and the construction of Givens Hall in 1932 provided a lasting physical testament to the family’s contribution. The arc from builder’s household to institutional legacy had come full circle.

The story of the Givens household also mirrors the broader evolution of St. Louis itself. The Morgan Street neighborhood of the 1870s represented a dynamic and transitional urban environment, where skilled tradesmen and rising professionals lived in close proximity to the commercial core. By the 1880s, development had pushed westward toward Delmar Boulevard, where Givens Row stood as a symbol of residential prosperity and architectural refinement. In time, shifting economic forces and deepening racial divisions would contribute to the decline of these once-prominent neighborhoods, leaving behind only fragments of their former character. Yet those fragments—whether in surviving structures or institutional legacies—continue to tell the story.

What makes the Givens household particularly compelling within the Lucas and Garrison project is its clear illustration of how influence is formed and transmitted across generations. Joseph W. Givens represents the skilled architect-contractor whose work was embedded in the physical city. Joseph B. Givens represents the extension of that work into professional architecture, accumulated wealth, and ultimately philanthropy. Together, they demonstrate that the built environment is not only constructed—it is inherited, refined, and ultimately redirected toward purposes that extend far beyond its original foundations.

Lucas and Garrison Reflective Addendum

The Givens household reminds us that history’s most meaningful trajectories often begin without recognition. Within a Morgan Street residence, a young boy observed the work of an architect-contractor engaged in shaping a growing institution—Washington University itself. That experience did not remain confined to one generation. It matured into a career, and ultimately into a gift that would shape the architectural education of future generations. The buildings may change, and neighborhoods may rise and fall, but the transmission of knowledge, skill, and purpose within a household can leave a far more enduring mark than any single structure.